Mangaluru: Congress Party held a ‘Felicitation Programme’ to felicitate the winners of ZP/TP elections at Shanthi Nilaya, Balmatta here, on February 26.
MUDA Chairman Ibrahim Kodijal welcomed the gathering. Speaking on this occasion, District Minister in-charge, Ramanth Rai said, “Though we could not win the majority in the district, we have done exceptionally better than our previous results. This is due to the misinformation fed to the people by the Sangh Parivar. They tell a lie ‘a thousand’ times till the people begin to feel that it is the truth. BJP leader Prathap Simha Nayak said that we take advantage of reservation and come through the back door. I have been a leader for so many years; BJP doesn’t need to teach us how to rule.”
He further said that the Congress Party had given several pro-people policies. The government lead by Siddaramaiah had waived off several loans, given land rights by 94C, Anna Bhagya scheme, Ksheera Bhagya scheme and many other schemes by which the poor of the state have benefited.
“Congress has never cheated the poor. May be our actions have troubled the rich, but Congress has never done anything against the poor. But BJP is cheating the poor. 9/11 and Yettinahole project was initiated by BJP, but today they have pinned the blame on us. When we were the ruling party at the centre, the price of crude oil was $136 per barrel, so we couldn’t give petroleum products at a subsidized price to the end consumer. Today the price of crude oil is $28 per barrel, so the centre should have reduced the price proportionately, but that is not done,” he said.
He further said, “When Anna Hazare staged agitation for Jan Lokpal, BJP used it against the Congress Party. But where is the Jan Lokpal now? When we introduced the Aadhar cards, BJP and also some people within our party were speaking against it, but now they are using the card for everything. Our party members should not join them when they criticise us, they should instead be aggressive towards each attack on the party by the opposition. Congress is my religion, I have worked hard during each and every election for the party.”
“MP Nalin Kumar Kateel put up banners when they started constructing the Shiradi Ghat road, where has the road reached now? Have you ever seen former District in-charge Palemar anywhere after 7 or 8 in the evening? I have been to places even at midnighthours. We all know of the shameful act of Palemar in the Parliament. He is also the one who heads the sand mafia. BJP leaders have done so much to demean our leaders; morphed photographs of Mithun Rai were circulated on social media, Abhaychandra Jain got threat calls from the mafia and so many other things,” he said.
Minister for Fisheries, Abhaychandra Jain said, “Though Congress has given so many people friendly schemes, I regret that we couldn’t reach each home. I congratulate the winners and this is a result of your hard work.”
MLA JR Lobo said, “We have several good leaders who couldn’t win this election. But they should not lose heart, they should know that thousands of voters did vote for them and they have lost for a small margin. However, those who have won, have the increased responsibility to make the party stronger.”
MLC Ivan D’Souza said, “We expected to win the election till 8:00 am on the vote counting day. We lost a lot of seats with a margin of just a 100 votes or so. But overall in the state we have got 16% more votes than the BJP. There is a situation where people don’t openly accept that they have got several facilities like, BPL cards, Pakka houses, Ration cards, Pension policies from the congress government, we should tackle this situation. We should eye to emerge victorious in the MLA elections when we will eliminate BJP.”
After the inaugural function, all the winners of ZP/TP elections were felicitated with a shawl. Mayor Jacintha Vijay Alfred, Mithun Rai and other leaders were also present.
Media and people are misled by congress led govt for the past 50 years. Some sectors of people still think Rahul gandhi is related to Mahatma Gandhi. Congress did badly in last lok sabha election and going to do badly next time, because 90% of their discussion is critising Modi or RSS. Modi is doing a fantastic job and works for betterment of India. Only thing we improve with congress govt is in poverty, corruption and unemployment.
We need leaders who are concerned about people and development. Let’s all careful and alert while selecting our leader. Forget the party wish more and more sincere people come into politics and lead our country.